Machine for direct and continuous casting of concrete walls

ABSTRACT

A METHOD AND MACHINE FOR CASTING CONCRETE WALLS BY INTRODUCING CONCRETE INTO A MOLD COMPRISING TWO PARALLEL DISCS HAVING COMPARATIVELY SMALL DIMENSIONS AND BEING CONTINUSOULY RECIPROCATED ALONG THE WALL BEING CAST BY MEANS OF A TRAVELING CRANE SO AS TO DEPOSIT A THIN STRIP OF CONCRETE EACH TIME IT PASSES ALONG THE WALL, WITH SAID DEPOSITED STRIP TO CONCRETE SIMULTANEOUSLY BEING RAMMED TO COMPACTEDNESS.

Oct. 12, 1971 N. F. LARSSON MACHINE FOR DIRECT AND CONTINUOUS CASTING OFCONCRETE WALLS Filed June a, 1969 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 7.

Oct. 12, 1971 LARSSQN 3,611,519

MACHINE FOR DIRECT AND CONTINUOUS CASTING 0F CONCRETE WALLS Filed June6, 1969 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 12, 1971 LARSSQN 3,611,519

MACHINE FOR DIRECT AND CONTINUOUS CASTING OF CONCRETE WALLS Filed June6, 1969 9 Sheets-Sheet S 77 FIG. 4.

i II II Oct. 12, 1971 LARSSON MACHINE FOR DIRECT AND CONTINUOUS CASTINGOF CONCRETE WALLS Filed June 6, 1969 9 Sheets-Sheet 4.

FIG. 5.

N. F. LARSSON 3,611,519

CASTING O1 CONCRETE WALLS Oct. 12, 1971 MAUHLMJ FOR DUiEC'l ANDCONTINUOUS Filed June 6, 1969 Oct. 12, 1971 N. F. LARSSON MACHIMI FORDIRECT AND CONTINUOUS CASTING OI" CONCRETE WALLS Filed June 6, 1969 9Sheets-Sheet 6 MACHIAL; FOR DIRECT AND CONTINUOUS CASTING OF CONCRETEWALLS 9 Sheets5hect 7 Filed June 6, 1969 FIG. 8..

FIG. 70.

Cl Lil 27 Oct. 12, 1971 N. F. LARSSON MACHINE FOR DIRECT AND CONTINUUUSCASTING OF CONCRETE WALLS Filed June 6, 1969 FIG 9 Sheets-Sheet 8MACHINE FOR DIRECT AND CONTINUOUS CASTING 0F CONCRETE WALLS Filed June6, 1969 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 12 H 70 F/G.15. 8

United States Patent 3,611,519 MACHINE FOR DIRECT AND CONTINUOUS CASTING0F CONCRETE WALLS Nils Folke Larsson, 27 Saterivagen, 161 70 Bromma,Sweden Filed June 6, 1969, Ser. No. 830,976 Claims priority, applicationSweden, June 17, 1968, 8,150/68 Int. Cl. E04g 11/34 US. Cl. -131 SC 8Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and a machine for castingconcrete walls by introducing concrete into a mold comprising twoparallel discs having comparatively small dimensions and beingcontinuously reciprocated along the wall being cast by means of atraveling crane so as to deposit a thin strip of concrete each time itpasses along the wall, with said deposited strip of concretesimultaneously being rammed to compactedness.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention refersto a method for direct and continuous casting of concrete walls by meansof introducing concrete between two parallel, continuously movable,positively controlled discs and ramming the concrete to compactedness,as well as to a machine for applying the method.

Description of the prior art SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The instantinvention discloses an entirely new method of erecting buildings as wellas a machine for applying said method, and the advantages achievedhereby in comparison to known technology are both economical, namelylower construction costs, and technical, namely a higher constructionrate. The means that are necessary for achieving these advantages willbecome apparent from the following description and claims.

Generally speaking, in the method for direct and continuous casting ofconcrete walls disclosed by the invention, concrete is introducedbetween two parallel, continuously movable, positively controlled discs,whereupon the concrete is rammed until it becomes compact. For example amachine for applying the method might be utilized for erecting smallhouses of the size of family homes in concrete cast in one process. Themachine has the form of a bridge structure straddling the entirecontemplated house and running on two horizontal rails laid out oneither side of the house and parallel to the latter Patented Oct. 12,1971 "ice and to each other. The machine may preferably be designed inthe following manner. A wheeled support provided with two wheels runs oneach rail, and each wheeled support carries a tower. The two towers areinterconnected at their upper portions by a transverse member in suchmanner that the device forms a rigid bridge structure. Between thetowers there is an additional transverse member which is mounted andguided on the towers. This transverse member is displaceable verticallyand is supported by hydraulic cylinders positioned in each tower. Acarriage runs on the last-mentioned transverse member, forming a yokeover said transverse member and carrying a container for material, withsaid container being housed within the trannsverse member to a greaterextent, as the result of the member having the shape of an inverted U. Acabin is tifllXECl to the container and both serves as an operatorscabin for the operator of the machine and also carries the actualcasting mold or molding head. The container and consequently theoperators cabin and the molding head as Well are rotatable and may beclamped in four individual positions at angles of with respect to eachother, and hence the molding head may be positioned parallel to the wallto be erected.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will be disclosed morespecifically below with reference to the accompanying drawings, whichillustrate an embodiment of the invention, wherein FIG. I shows anelevational view of the machine as viewed longitudinally, FIG. 2 showsthe machine in a plan view, FIG. 3 shows the machine in a transverseview, FIG. 4 shows the transversely displaceable carriage, the materialcontainer and the operators cabin with the molding head as viewed in thelongitudinal direction of the machine. FIG. 5 shows the transverselydisplaceable carriage, the material container and the operators cabinwith the molding head as viewed in the transverse direction of themachine, FIG. 6 shows an elevational view, partly in section, of theramming device, FIG. 7 shows another elevational view of the rammingdevice, with the view of FIG. 7 being taken at 90 with respect to theelevational view of FIG. 6, FIG. 8 shows a portion of the wheeledsupport of the machine, FIG. 9 shows a hydraulic cylinder unit includinga piston, a chain. a pump, a valve and a motor for elevating theoverhead crane member, FIG. 10 illustrates the principle of maintainingthe overhead crane member horizontal by means of two hydraulic cylinderunits of the type illustrated in FIG. 9, FIG. 11 shows a device formaintaining the entire machine parallel when displacing the samelongtiudinally, E16. 12 shows a device for fiat face milling windowopenings and the top portions of the walls, FIG. 13 schematicallyillustrates a control panel for compressed air, FIG. 14 shows a ram, andFIG. 15 shows a device for coating floors. Similar designattions havebeen utilized for identical portions in the figures. Furthermore,certain portions have been omitted from the figures so as to avoidcomplicating the latter unnecessarily.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, respectively,illustrate the machine schematically and without any great number ofparts.

Wheels 2 that are mounted in beam units 3 run on rails 1 and aredesigned in such manner as to be guided laterally on each rail. A tower4 is erected on each beam unit 3, and a transverse member 5 is securedto the top portions of the two towers 4 for instance by means of nutsand bolts. A traveling crane member 6 is mounted to the towers 4 at itstwo ends by means of rollers 7 designed for guided engagement with thetowers 4 without play, and the traveling crane member 6 is displaceablevertically. Said traveling crane member may be displaced upwards ordownwards, respectively, by means of two hydraulic devices, one of whichis illustrated in FIG. 9, with one hydraulic device of this type beingmounted in each of the two towers 4. When the traveling crane member 6is to be elevated, motors 22 (one of which is illustrated in FIG. 9) arestarted simultaneously in each of the two hydraulic devices so as topump oil by means of an oil pump from an oil tank 25a into a hydrauliccylinder 23 in each of the hydraulic devices, thereby elevating thecrane member 6. When the traveling crane member 6 is to be lowered, thedirection of rotation of the motors 22 is reversed so that oil isexpelled from the cylinders 23, resulting in crane member 6 descending.The traveling crane member 6 may for instance be maintained horizontalin the manner indicated in FIG. 10, namely by a valve 24 being connectedto each cylinder 23, with said valve being opened and providing a leakbetween the oil pump 25 and the cylinder 23 at any end where the cranemember may be positioned at too high a level. Valve 24 is actuated bymeans of a belt or a wire 26 (FIGS. 9 and 10, respectively) that extendsfrom valve 24 up to crane member 6 over a pulley wheel 27, further onover to the other tower, over a pulley wheel 28 and up to the top ofthis tower, with said wire being secured there. As each tower isprovided with a device of this type complete symmetry and hence fullbalance with respect to the horizontal position of the traveling cranemember 6 is achieved.

As is illustrated by FIGS. 2, 3 and 8, respectively, motors 29 forpropelling the machine along the rails 1 are disposed on each of the twobeam units 3, with each of said motors being connected to an individualwheel 2 over an appropriate transmission. The two motors 29 are startedsimultaneously when the machine is to be moved along the rails 1. Inorder to ensure that the towers 4 are maintained exactly parallel to oneanother the machine IS provided with an arrangement that isschematically illustrated in FIG. 11. A wire 30 is secured at one end ofone of the rails (on the left side in FIG. 11). The wire 30 follows therail to the middle of the tower 4 and then turns off over a pulley wheel31 (also illustrated in FIG. 8, which shows one of the beam units 3 fromone end and forward to slightly past the tower) and runs up into thetower 4 to the upper transverse member 5, turning off there over apulley wheel 32 and continuing along the transverse member 5 to theother tower 4, then turning off over a pulley wheel 33 and going downinto the tower to the wheeled support that runs on the other rail,turning off over a pulley wheel 34 and finally running along thelast-mentioned rail towards the opposite end as compared to the end ofthe first rail where said wire has started, with said wire being securedto the end of the second rail. In the same manner a wire runs from theother end of the second rail to the opposite end of the first rail andis secured there.

As may be seen from FIG. 1, a carriage 8 runs on wheels 9 on thetraveling crane member 6. This is illustrated more specifically in FIG.4, which shows that the wheels 9 are adapted to be guided on thetraveling crane member 6 and are driven by a motor 10 over anappropriate transmission 11. The transmission is dimensioned in suchmanner that carriage 8 will move at the same rate along the travelingcrane member 6 as that at which the entire machine in accordance withFIGS. 1, 2, and 3, respectively, will move along the rails.

FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively, are elevational views taken at 90 from eachother, and these figures show that carriage 8 carries a pressurizedcontainer 12, which is intended for dry concrete and which at its tophas a sealing cover 35 that may be opened inwardly into the container.At its bottom, container 12 is provided with a feed-out wheel which isdriven by a motor 13. Said feed-out wheel continuously feeds dryconcrete to an output opening having a hose 14 connected thereto,through which dry concrete is blown out by means of compressed air.

A pump 17, for example an adjustable deplacement pump, is driven by thesame shaft as said feed-out wheel and urges water from a container 16through a hose 18 out into an annular nozzle 15 which opens into saidhose 14. At the nozzle 15 the water is mixed with the dry concrete so asto provide the latter with desired consistency, whereafter the completedconcrete is blown out through a nozzle 19 down into a molding head 20comprising two parallel sides that are connected at the top but are openat the bottom. Simultaneously with the concrete flowing down into themolding head 20, the concrete is packed by a ramming device which isillustrated more specifically in FIGS. 6 and 7, respectively. Forexample, the machine may be provided with two rams, each comprising atwoway operative compressed air cylinder having two hammers beingalternately displaced upwards and downwards, respectively, between thetwo sides of the molding head 20 so as to pack the concrete. The rammingdevice will be disclosed more specifically below.

As said molding head 20 moves forwardly, it leaves behind a strip ofpacked concrete having a rectangular cross-section. In order to decreasethe friction between the concrete and the sides of molding head 20, thelatter sides are designed such, that the greater part of their area iscomposed of a round disc 36 (FIGS. 5 and 7, respectively), which mayrotate around a shaft 360. As may be seen from FIGS. 4 and 5 the moldinghead 20 is adapted to be displaced in a horizontal and straight pathalong the lower edge of an operators cabin 37 positioned below container12 by means of a wheel 38 running along a track 39, with said wheel 38being mounted on molding head 20. In addition, molding head 20 is guidedby linkage arms 40a and 40b, respectively, which are connected to saidmolding head 20 and to a plate 41, which latter is displaceablevertically on guides in the operators cabin 37. A pivot arm 42 is alsoconnected to plate 41. Said pivot arm may pivot between the linkage arms40a and 40b and in the same plane as the latter. The pivot arm 42 isshown on an enlarged scale in FIG. 6, in which it may be seen that asupport 43 for the above-mentioned ramming device 21 is rotatablymounted at the lower portion of pivot arm 42. A rotational movement of ahandle 48 may be transferred to support 43 over a bevel gear 44, a shaft45, a gear 46 and a shaft 47. The handle 48 is prevented from movingfreely as the result of friction against a disc 49, which over atransmission is connected to a motor 50 provided with a magnetic brake.As the result of said handle 48 being clamped to motor 50 and the latterbeing secured to plate 41, pivot arm 42 may pivot without the angle ofthe support 43 being altered with respect to plate 41.. Support 43 isprovided with guides 51a and 51b, respectively, for the hammers of theramming device, which latter thus may move upwards and downwards inconsequence of said guides. A rotatable distribution valve 52 forsupplying compressed air to the ramming device 21 alternately flowscompressed air into a cylinder (FIGS. 6 and 14, respectively) throughupper and lower leads so as to make a piston 61 in said cylinder moveback and forth (upwards and downwards, respectively) in said cylinder.Piston 61 draws along a piston rod 55, a crosspiece 60, parallel rods57a and 57b, respcctively, and one hammer 59a in its motion. Cylinderrod 58 and the other hammer 59/) accompany cylinder 56 in its motion. Asthe respective masses of the two hammers are approximately equal, thetwo hammers 59a and 59b,

respectively, will be displaced equal distances but in differentdirections. One arm in a linkage 53 is mounted to the crosspiece 60,whereas the other arm is mounted to the cylinder top. As the result ofthe two arms of said linkage 53 moving the same distances, the pivotpoint 54 will only move horizontally with respect to the center ofgravity of the ram. Support 43 also carries a switch 63 (FIG. 6) as wellas mounts 62 for nozzle 19 (FIG.

Compressed air means 95 supplies air in appropriate manner to a controlpanel 64 illustrated more specifically in FIG. 13 and is introducedthrough a valve 65. Three relief valves 66, 67, and 68, respectively,are connected in parallel behind valve 65. From relief valve 66 thecompressed air flows through a valve and a tube 70 to the container 12(FIG. 5) for material. From relief valve 67 the air flows through amagnetic valve 71 to a shut-off device 72 for hose 14 (FIG. 4) and overa magnetic valve 73 through a tube 74 to cylinders 75 and 76 in FIGS. 6and 7, respectively. From relief valve 68 the air flows through amagnetic valve 77 and an oil mist lubricating device 78 through a tube79 to valve 52 and from there onto ramming device 21 (compare FIGS. 6and 7, respectively).

An additional motor 80 is provided at the lower portion of the operatorscabin 37 (FIG. 5) and runs a belt or a band 82 over rollers 83 and 84 bymeans of a transmission 81.

A control panel 85 indicated in FIG. 4 is provided with a control forlongitudinal movement forwards and backwards, a control for transversemovement forwards and backwards, a control for elevation and descent,and a main control for enabling a plurality of functions to be carriedout simultaneously.

In FIG. 5 the operators cabin 37 is illustrated with the molding head 20in position for moving leftwards in the figure. The device is in thesame position when starting for operation rightwards with the exceptionthat the ramming device then slants in the other direction, i.e. towardsthe direction of motion.

When utilizing the pertinent machine for molding and ramming, the extentof a wall may be defined by another wall or an upright plank or similar,and the mode of operation of the machine will now be described.

When the machine is to be started to the right, the ramming device isrotated to the right from its position as illustrated in FIG. 5 by meansof the handle 48 of FIG. 7. Container 12 (FIG. 5) should then be filledwith a dry mixture of sand and cement. However, the sand should beslightly moist so as to avoid raising dust. Container 16 should beprovided with water. Container 12 is placed under pressure(approximately 28 p.s.i.g.). When the main control of control panel 85(FIG. 4) is displaced to the right (all directional indications refer toFIG. 5) the following will occur: (a) motor 13 starts and Operates thefeed-out wheel in the bottom of container 12 as well as pump 17 (FIG.5); (b) magnetic valve 71 (FIG. 13) opens and passes compressed air toshut-off device 72 (FIG. 4), thereby opening hose 14 for flow-through soas to eject concrete into molding head 20 through nozzle 19; (c)magnetic valve 73 (FIG. 13) opens and passes compressed air through tube74 (FIGS. 13 and 7, repsectively) so as to make the piston of cylinder75 (FIGS. 6 and 7, respectively) ur e belt 82 (FIG. 5) into engagement,and furthermore the piston of cylinder 75 (FIG. 6) releases a catch 85(FIG. 6) which clamps the pivot arm 42 to the molding head 20; (d)magnetic valve 77 (FIG. 3) opens and passes compressed air through valve52 to ramming device 21 (FIGS. 6 and 7, respectively); (e) motor 80starts and makes pivot arm 42 move rightwards until it is stopped by theright linkage arm 4011, with the entire molding head following alonguntil said linkage arm 40'!) strikes a limit switch 86!) that stopsmotor 80 and starts motors 29 (FIG. 8) so as to make the entire machinemove forward. As the result of motor 80 being provided with a magneticbrake, the molding head will be maintained in its set position untileither the main control is reset or the molding head 20 strikes a wallor some other limitation, resulting in a limit switch 87b stoppingmotors 29 and starting motor 50 (FIG. 6), which in turn results in theramming device beginning to be rotated in the other direction and beingstopped by a limit switch 88b cutting off the current to motor 50, motor13, magnetic valve 71, and magnetic valve 77, respectively.Simultaneously with limit switch 87!; stopping motors 29, the current tomagnetic valve 73 is also cut off, thereby releasing pivot arm 42 frombelt 82 as well as making catch 85 lock pivot arm 42 to molding head 20.However, said pivot arm is displaceable in its longitudinal directionwith respect to the molding head. As the external position of saidmolding head lies outside of the outer edge of the operators cabin tosome extent and the molding head is released completely from the cabin,the molding head may stop immediately, whereas the machine will haveample time to be retarded by the magnetic brakes of motors 29 before theoperators cabin reaches the wall. The machine will now be in positionfor starting leftwards. After the machine has run back and forth a fewtimes the concrete strip will have reached approximately half the heightof the molding head. The ramming device floats on top of the packedconcrete during the entire process and now begins to actuate switch 63(FIG. 6) so as to start motors 22 and elevate traveling crane member 6,thereby raising the molding head and stopping motors 22. When theoperators cabin is rotated for transverse operation limit switches 86aand 8619, respectively, actuate motor 10 instead of motors 29.

A motor 89 operating a milling disc 90 for flat face milling windowopenings and the tops of walls may be mounted on the operators cabin asillustrated in FIG. 12. The motor is rotatable for slanting or verticalplanes. Molding head 20 is raised in this case.

In FIG. 15 material container 12 and operator's cabin 37 have beenremoved and replaced by a concrete container 191 having a vibratingdevice for coating floors.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment described above andillustrated in the drawings, and this embodiment only comprises anexample of the invention and its application.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for casting concrete walls from concrete mix comprising apair of movable towers; a crane mem ber connecting the two towers;hydraulic means attached to the crane member and the towers forproviding relative vertical displacement; carriage means supported bythe crane member and including an operators cabin; means for generatingcompressed gas; pressurized container means for feeding a relatively dryconcrete mix pressurized by compressed gas and supported by the carriagemeans; means for receiving the relatively dry concrete mix from thepressurized container means and mixing it with water; means forcompacting the damp concrete mix and a molding head controlled from theoperator's cabin.

2. Apparatus as in claim 1 where the means for compacting the dampconcrete include a pair of alternatively activated rams.

3. Apparatus as in claim 2 further including control means in theoperators cabin, for controlling the molding head including pivot arms,a magnetic valve and magnetic brake.

4. Apparatus as in claim 3 including a motor on each tower.

5. Apparatus as in claim 3 including switch means for raising thesupport member activated by the molding head means.

6. Apparatus as in claim 3 where the means for compacting the dampconcrete is rotatable, and lockable in four positions 90 apart.

7. Apparatus as in claim 3 wherein the molding head means includes apair of rotatable round discs.

8 8. Apparatus as in claim 5 wherein the molding head 3,195,208 7/1965Winn 25-131 means is displaceable in a straight and horizontal path3,497,579 2/1970 Barron 24920X along the lower edge of the operator scabm. FOREIGN PATENTS References Cited 5 ,199,605 2/1959 France25-131(SC) UNITED STATES PATENTS J. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner1,642,393 9/1927 Westphal 25-131 SCX 5 377 51 Lachais6 5 X B- D- TOBOR,A551$tant Examlner 3,032,851 5/1962 Gibbs 25-2 2,339,892 1/1944 Urschel25 41x 2,979,793 4/1961 Price 2s 131x 2541 26433

